Dexter's Kids
by csyphrett
Summary: Superheroic kids take up the fight for justice. Dexter/Blossom, Mandark/Dee Dee


Dexter's Kids

1

Freddie and Mary Freeman beamed down at their little boy, Billy. He grinned back.

"Got everything, champ?," asked Freddie.

"Yep," said Billy. "Backpack, lunch, Tony, and science project."

"Tony?," said Mary. "You know tigers aren't allowed in school."

"He helps me with my homework," said Billy. "I couldn't do my science project without him. He's important."

"What if you lose him at school, Billy?," said Mary. "You'll be upset."

"Can't I?," said Billy. "I need him to explain my project."

The parents exchanged a glance. Billy took it as some kind of conversation they didn't want him to hear by the facial expressions.

"We're going to let you take Tony to school," said Freddie. "It's your responsibility to make sure he comes home."

"I can handle it," said Billy. He grinned. "When we do our presentation, I am sure I will get an A with him there."

"All right," said Freddie. "I think you need to catch your bus."

"I'm on the way," said Billy. He pulled his pack on his back. He grabbed the box with his science project and headed out the door. Tony and his lunch shared space with his books.

Billy ran to the bus stop. He would get his A, then some ice cream after school. Everything would be gold.

Billy saw the bus ahead. He waved at the driver. The man ignored him as he drove by the stop. The bus took a hard right and vanished down the block.

Billy froze. He looked around, fighting tears. He wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to cry. A single tear fell on his red shirt. He closed his eyes and thought about what he should do.

His father and mother left for their jobs after they sent him to school. They wouldn't be home. He couldn't call them either while they were in transit. What could he do?

He knew the bus driver had seen him. He probably was thinking how cool it was to leave a kid stuck on the street. It would be his word versus an adult. Only his parents would believe him against whatever lie the driver told. The school would say he was mistaken.

How did he get out of this fix? He looked around again. He had to use the word. He didn't want to because his parents had warned him of the responsibility. He weighed that against the ice cream he had already won in his mind.

He had to make sure he won that ice cream.

No crummy bus driver was going to deny him three scoops of rocky road with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, sprinkles on top, and M&Ms. He was going to right this wrong.

Billy made sure no one was around before he said the word. A dark cloud advanced across the blue sky. Lightning descended from the moving splotch of night, bringing thunder with its flash. The cloud evaporated after the bolt.

Billy wanted to catch up to the bus. He wanted to rub the driver's face in leaving him behind. He decided it was better just to get to school. He had better things to do with his time than get even with an old man.

He took to the air, flying above the tree tops. He knew where the school was, and it was simple to orient along the streets to keep him going in the right direction. He had time to save a cat from a tree as he passed.

He saw a car speeding through the streets below. Police cars marked with the FCPD shield on the doors roared after it with lights and sirens blaring.

The lead car fishtailed around a corner, almost sideswiping an SUV as it corrected its path. The police slowed to go around the car as the driver stopped to let him pass.

Billy spotted his science teacher behind the wheel of the SUV. He looked at the lead car. He wasn't supposed to be seen. He needed to do something about the chase before something bad happened.

He flew ahead of the chase. He turned in the air, and dove into the fleeing car. It wrapped around him as it slammed to a stop. The driver flew through the windshield and slid along the street.

Billy pulled himself out of the wreckage. He made sure the crook was still breathing before taking to the air. He still had to get to school.

He still had to beat his bus. He wanted to see the look on the driver's face when he met the bus at the school.

He knew that wasn't being responsible, but he wanted the A more.

Billy sliced the air as he headed for the school. He smiled when he saw it drawing closer. He aimed for the bus ramp at the back of the school. He landed gently and looked around. No one was around. He said the word and reverted to his normal red shirt, and jeans. His backpack was heavy on his back, and his science project was in his hands.

Buses pulled into the lot as he stood there. His bus pulled in next to last. Kids got of the bus, and flowed around him. He walked down to his bus, and waved at the driver. He veered into the closest door. He still had to drop off his project in his class, before heading down to his locker to drop off his nonessential books before his first period.

He debated storing Tony until the science class. He decided to leave him in his bag. He wanted his tiger close until he was done for the day. Then he and Tony could get their ice cream.

Talk of Captain Marvel, Jr stopping a fire, and Mary Marvel saving a ship at sea drifted among the kids. Billy smiled. Those were his folks in action. He wished he could tell someone.

He knew he couldn't. It was a responsibility. He had to live up the family name. He couldn't blab the family secrets.

He wished he could. It would be great to talk to someone his own age. Tony liked to hear him talk, but he was a tiger and didn't talk back much.

Billy headed for his first class of the day. He still had to get through his day without being Billy Marvel.

He still had to earn his grades instead of being as wise as Solomon, strong as Hercules, as enduring as Atlas, as powerful as Zeus, as tough as Achilles, as fast as Mercury. You didn't get ice cream by cheating.

Billy smiled as he walked the halls. He could already taste that ice cream.

2

Billy's science class met in the auditorium when its period arrived. He joined his classmates in a straggling line from his class to the auditorium. He had Tony in his bag, so still felt confident about his presentation.

The tiger would give him hints about what to say about his project.

"What did you make?," Jeanie asked as they dragged their feet behind the rest of the class.

"I made a biome for dinosaurs," said Billy. "I put in a lot of information about them, and everything. What did you do?"

"I built a model of Saturn and explained everything about the rings," said Jeannette. "I think it looks good."

"Do you think we'll get As for ours?," asked Billy.

"Mine will," said Jeanie. "I put in a lot of work on my project. I'm sure Mr. Dexter will give me an A for it."

Billy nodded. He had experienced some self-doubt as the day had passed, so he could no longer taste that ice cream reward. He pushed that away. He wasn't in a competition. Everyone could get an A if they worked hard enough.

Billy opened his box and put his project together on the provided table. Jeanie put her project right next to his. Jeanie's looked like she had frozen Saturn and put it on a cradle. The rings even revolved around the center of the thing. He didn't see any support for that. He looked at his toy dinosaurs beside hers and wished he had cheated a little.

Jeanie would get an A for sure. He smiled at that. Maybe her parents would get her ice cream.

Mr. Dexter adjusted his thick glasses and looked over the room. He nodded as each project went up. His red hair was already thinning on top even though he was one of the younger teachers in school.

"Everybody, we don't have a lot of time," said Mr. Dexter. He had a weird accent to Billy. "We're going to go through in alphabetical order to present your projects."

Billy smiled. That put him at the top of the list of presenters. He could get through his today, and goof off tomorrow.

"Hey, Dexter!" A slim man stood in the doorway of the auditorium. He had thick glasses and a bowl haircut. He lifted a ray gun in one hand. "Let's show them some real science."

He pulled the trigger on the ray gun. The beam shined on the science projects. He laughed as he retreated from the door.

"Kids, let's head out to the hall," said Mr. Dexter. He pointed a gloved hand at the door. "Let's move."

Billy's dinosaurs started expanding on the table. He stepped back, pulling Jeanie with him. One of the dinosaurs roared. He shouldn't have put the T-Rex in the diorama.

Expanding ice crashed against the expanding dinosaurs as Saturn started growing and exerting a pull on its surroundings.

"Head for the door," said Billy. He gave Jeanie a push. "Pull the fire alarm."

"This can't be happening," said Jeanie. "I put hours into my project."

"It's about to crush us." Billy pushed her in front of him. She was taller and lankier. "Let's go."

"Say, you let go," said Jeanie. Billy's hands dropped by his sides. "My project is going back to its own size one way or the other."

The planetary model shrank back in its cradle.

A dinosaur stomped it flat a second later. Then that dinosaur eyed the two kids. They were the closest food in its opinion.

"I wish someone was here to help," said Jeanie. A flash of lightning blinded her with that utterance.

Billy looked down at his red shirt and blue pants. His gold lightning bolt gleamed on his chest. He looked up at the dinosaur and the other projects running amuck. He took a deep breath and launched himself into the air.

Jeanie ran to the fire alarm on the wall. She pulled the switch. A siren started playing in the air.

"Let's go," called Mr. Dexter. "Everyone move."

Billy grabbed the dinosaurs and dumped them into the expanding volcano. He hated to throw his converted toys into a heat source, but they had already tried to snatch a few of the other kids up and charged a row of seats with disastrous results for the seats. As an immediate danger, they had to go. Then the giant bugs went in next.

A phony rat come to life for a project on mice and other rodents ran by Jeanie. She grabbed it and held on.

"You're not getting away from me until you go back to normal," said Jeanie. The rat shrank to a plastic toy from a dollar store. She dropped it on the ground.

Billy tried to think of a way to handle the volcano. If it kept growing, it would spew lava in the middle of the city before becoming dormant. He didn't know if it would become dormant, but figured it would when it ran out of lava.

He looked at Jeanie calming the rat. Her project had reverted too. She had some kind of power. Maybe she could stop the volcano while he dealt with the rest.

"Jeanie," Billy landed by her side. "I need you to do what you do to the volcano."

"Do what I do?," said Jeanie. "What do you think I can do against that?"

"I know you have some kind of power," said Billy. "I want you to use it against the volcano."

"What kind of power do you think I have?," said Jeanie. "Wait, you think I can make the projects go back to normal before they wreck the school. You want me to tell them to go back to normal?"

"Yes," said Billy. "Can you do that for me?"

"All right," said Jeanie. "I want all of you to knock this off and go back to normal."

The science projects collapsed on themselves one by one. Billy smiled. Then he frowned. His dinosaurs had been vaporized by the out of control volcano before it was shrunken to normal.

"It worked," said Jeanie. "How did you know it would work?"

"I know things," said Billy. "Good job. Thanks for the help."

He flew away in a blur.

Jeanie looked around. She wiped her forehead. She had saved the day.

Who was going to clean up this mess?

"Please fix everything like this never happened," said **Jeanie Thunder**. The room began to dance back into place. She thought she heard a roomful of sugar in the background but dismissed it as part of her imagination.

3

Billy waited to board his bus after sixth period. School had been locked down, but the incident had been temporary. None of the adults knew that Jeanie had fixed things.

He wasn't about to reveal his own part in things. That would complicate his life to an unknown extent.

He would have to tell his parents so they didn't worry.

"Hey, Billy," called Jeanie. "Can we talk?"

"I have to catch my bus," said Billy. He looked at the bus, then the driver. The man was not going to wait on him. He could sense it. "Okay, let's talk."

"My mom is coming to pick me up," said Jeanie. "The school has already called and told her something happened. What do I tell her?"

"I don't know," said Billy. He hadn't considered the school letting things out of the bag. He thought Mr. Winchell would keep the event to himself until they had figured out what was going on. "The truth, I guess."

"Is that what you're going to tell your parents?," asked Jeanie.

"Everything except your super power," said Billy. "I'll tell them that Billy Marvel was on the scene and saved the day."

"That sounds good," said Jeanie. "Say, you are a help with this."

"I know," said Billy. He frowned as the bus rolled from the ramp without him. The driver waved at him as the yellow machine drifted out of the lot. "He left me again."

"I'll ask my mom to give you a ride home," said Jeanie. "I don't think she'll mind."

"I can get home myself," said Billy. He stared after the bus. "It's just annoying because I think he does that on purpose just to be mean to me."

"You can report him to the school," said Jeanie. "That might do something."

"I got better things to do," said Billy. "I wish I knew how our projects came to life like that."

"I do too," said Jeanie. "Oh, oh, oh. I know how the projects came to life. Someone fired a reality rearranger at them."

"Really?," asked Billy. "Who?"

"I don't know," said Jeanie. She shrugged.

"Maybe someone wanted to cause trouble for Mr. Dexter," said Billy. "Wrecking the science projects like that could have done it."

"That seems really petty," said Jeanie. "I would have picked a better way to cause trouble than that."

"I know," said Billy. "There goes Mr. Dexter. I thought he stayed late every day."

"It looks like he's in a hurry," said Jeanie. "Maybe he knows what's going on."

"You go home," said Billy. "I'll call you later tonight."

Billy started across the lot after the car. It was rolling slow to the stop sign that marked the exit from the school driveway to the city street. If he kept it in sight, he could change and follow Mr. Dexter and snoop around.

"How are you going to call me?," shouted Jeanie across the parking lot.

Billy ran after the car. He didn't have a way to call Jeanie, and didn't want to if that would keep her out of trouble. Her power had come in handy earlier, but now this was something he could do without slinging magic around.

Billy ran around students on the sidewalk bordering the school as he tried to keep the car in sight. He needed a spot to change. He could follow a lot easier from the air.

A drone carrying a box flew toward the school. The drone dropped its cargo in the parking lot. The sides fell open to reveal a small column of parts and engines with arms unfolding around the central body.

Billy paused to see what was going on. It couldn't be good. He took a breath. He needed a place to hide so he could change without his peers seeing him.

Small bits jumped from the central column. They moved toward the school on various appendages. When two of the little machines, they became a bigger machine as they blended together.

"This can't be good," said Billy. He ran back toward the box. He saw another boy doing the same thing. Maybe they had the same idea.

Jeanie ran after the other boy. She looked angry to Billy. Maybe she had figured he was trying to dump her and she didn't like it. There was nothing he could do about that now.

The machines flowed out of the miniature factory. Their joining turned them into a danger as they approached the school. Students fled from the composite robot.

"Step back," said the strange boy. "I got this."

He reached under his coat. He pulled his hand out. A green ring glowed on his finger. He pointed the hand at the machine. A blast of energy took the factory down to component parts as easily as a mechanic taking apart a car on a lift.

He put his hand back under his coat. When he pulled it back out, the ring was gone.

"That was great," said Billy. "You got anything for that?"

He pointed at the now giant robot heading for the school. He needed a place to change away from the two kids with him in the lot. Everyone else was running in all directions. They wouldn't notice a flash of lightning.

His companions might.

"I got a hammer," said the other boy. He reached under his coat and pulled out a hammer made of a block of stone on a stick. Leather wrapped the handle becoming a thong hanging from the shaft.

The boy swung the hammer in a circle. He released it with the sound of thunder in the air. It crashed into the robot and blew a hole through its chest. The robot turned to look at them. It swung a giant fist at them. The hammer swept back toward the other boy but it would be too late to help fend off the threat.

Billy said the word. Jeanie was staring at the giant fist. The other boy reached up a hand to catch the returning hammer. The giant fist came down. He leaped up in the air to catch the connected robots.

"Billy Marvel again?," said Jeannie. "Where's our Billy?"

"We can worry about him after we stop the robot," said the other boy. "I'm Festus Mann, the Grandson of Vulcan."

Festus caught the hammer and knocked a leg out from under the giant with it on the backswing.

Billy threw the robot in the air as it lost any leverage to try to stop him flinging it into space.

"I think we need to talk," said Billy.

4

Scott Gray wiped his hand through his silver hair as he walked across the parking lot. Billy Marvel stood on the asphalt with Jeannie Thunder and Festus Mann. He checked their perceptions as he approached them.

They had dealt with a giant robot from the looks of things.

Did he want in on the action? Jeannie was a civ from what he understood. Billy Marvel tried to protect the city. It was said his parents were Captain Marvel Jr, and Mary Marvel. They were moving around the world fighting the effects of Asgard over the Midwest. Tidal forces were causing seismic issues with the giant hunk of land hovering in the sky. Festus Mann should also be a civilian. He had stopped the robot from gaining more height than it should have with his magic gift.

Scott checked the perception with his own innate power. He frowned at the family tree he found. Festus's grandfather was the Son of Vulcan, empowered by the Roman gods to try to keep the peace. He married an Amazon named Artemis. Their child, Christopher, had a gift for weapons and became the second Peacemaker. Then Chris Mann met and married Natalie Romanov and had Hephaestus Beauregard Mann, Festus.

It wasn't as complicated as his own family tree, even if Festus was kin to Wonder Woman, and Wonder Girl.

Scott's grandparents were Scott Summers and Jean Grey. His parents were Nathan Summers, Cable, and Wanda Maximoff Summers, the Scarlet Witch. That was just the tip of the iceberg. Just thinking about it gave him a vision of a spiral running out of control.

It was better just to stick with what he knew, and what he could do at the moment.

He approached the little group. They looked at him with suspicion. He couldn't blame them. Most of the other kids would have run the other way.

His powers would give him a slight edge if he had to fight them. He hoped it would give him an edge. Marvels were faster than a lightning bolt.

"What's going on, guys?," said Scott.

"Nothing much," said Billy. "I was just getting ready to leave. I think your mother will be here any second, Jeannie. You might want to go home."

"I'm in," said Jeannie. "I'll tell Mom I have to do another project. That should buy me an hour at least."

"I'm in too," said Festus. "I want to know where the tinker toy came from now."

Billy shrugged and took to the air. He couldn't stop them from following him but he wasn't going to make it easy for them.

"See you later, Scott," said Festus. "I have to make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

The Grandson of Vulcan reached under his coat. He pulled out a pair of gauntlets. He put them on as he walked across the lot. He pointed one hand. A string hit a light pole. He yanked and swung over the street. He began to shoot strings along the street to swing through the neighborhood.

"I can't believe they left me," said Jeannie. "I'm a founding member of the group."

"Maybe you can ask your mom to drive you to Mr. Dexter's house," said Scott. He knew he was stirring the pot. Jeannie must have some talent if she wanted to follow Billy Marvel.

"She'll never go for that," said Jeannie. "As soon as she thinks there's any danger, she'll forbid me from seeing what's going on."

"There are other ways to get some excitement in your life," said Scott.

"I know but this guy has tried to ruin our science projects, and wreck the building," said Jeannie. "How long before he tries to do something else? With Billy Marvel on our side, we should be able to win."

"Do you really think so?," said Scott.

"Yes," said Jeannie. "I wish I was where Billy was going."

Jeannie started vanishing in front of Scott's eyes. He jumped forward and grabbed her arm before she was completely gone. The world twisted around him. He landed on his feet, trying not to hurl as the sensation receded.

"Where are we?," Jeannie asked. She looked around.

"We're where Billy Marvel was going," said Scott. He pointed at the blur in the sky heading down toward them.

"How did you guys get here before me?," Billy asked. He landed gently on the sidewalk.

Scott pointed at Jeannie.

"So you can teleport now?," Billy asked.

"I guess," said Jeannie. "It makes it easier to get around."

Mr. Dexter rolled down the road toward the driveway, pausing as he saw the three kids in front of his house. He pulled into the driveway after they moved out of the way.

"Hello, Mr. Dexter," said Scott.

5

"Hello, kids," said Mr. Dexter. He frowned at the children behind his thick sunglasses. "What do I owe the pleasure of his visit?"

"Someone is after you," said Billy Marvel. "We want to help you out."

"I can take care of myself," said Dexter. He waved a hand. "I have been doing it for a long time now."

"Someone tried to crush the school with a robot made of little robots after the bell," said Scott. He flipped through Dexter's mind for a clue.

He found a bunch of schematics papered over a life of projects buried under his house. People aged from childhood to adulthood before his eyes. A thin figure with a bowl haircut slid out in front of all that. His annoying laugh filled the memory.

"I'll have a talk with the person responsible," said Dexter. "You kids can go home."

"Are you sure about that?," said Billy. "This guy needs something more than talk. He's tried to wreck the school twice."

"I know," said Dexter. "I can handle him. He's an old enemy."

"How old?," said Jeannie.

"Childhood," said Dexter. "Is there anything else? I have some things that I need to check on."

"He's let something else loose," said Scott. His mind automatically identified threats and pointed them out to him. It didn't work on machines, but people and animals gave him a head start.

"Where?," said the others.

A thin giant made of fire with a semblance of a skull for a face and a wrestling leotard and boots for clothes grew to stand over the neighborhood. It glared down at the little group and took a step toward them.

"I'll keep it busy," said Billy. "You guys think of a way to stop it."

"Brimstone?," said Dexter. "He brought back Brimstone? Why not Chemo too?"

"How do we stop that?," asked Scott.

"I think I have something in my lab," said Dexter. "I'll be right back."

He rushed toward the house. He vanished through the front door. He headed for his bedroom. He catalogued what he had in the lab. There had to be something there to stop Brimstone.

He pressed a button concealed in the wall next to his bed and a portal rotated open in the floor. He jumped down in the hole and slid into his lab. He hoped what he wanted was close by. He didn't have time for an extensive search. The kids might be getting eaten if they didn't run.

"Hello, Dexter," said the Computer. She was the center of the lab, and was his main helper for his tests. "How are you?"

"Mandork has recreated Brimstone," said Dexter. "I need the ice gun."

"It's down at 35-c," said the Computer. "It's in the exotic weapons vault."

"Where's my family?," Dexter asked. He didn't want to get the wife involved if he could help it.

She had retired from the superhero business after a falling out with her sisters. She had settled in to raise their little girl without worrying about the rest of the world. He had tried to change her mind, but she had said that there were enough heroes in the world. It didn't need her.

"They are five minutes out," said the Computer. "You had better hurry if you don't want Mrs. Dexter finding out what's going on."

"On my way," said Dexter. "See if you can blow Brimstone up."

"I can't right now," said the Computer. "Billy Marvel is in my way."

"Do what you can," said Dexter. He headed to the vault. He didn't know if missiles would work against that monstrosity. It never hurt to try.

He unlocked the exotic weapons vault. He took a second to look around. The ice gun was the third weapon he looked at. It sat on a rack against the wall with a ton of other munitions. He grabbed it and headed back outside to deal with his fiery enemy.

He hoped the kids were all right. He didn't need more blood on his hands because of his feud with the supergenius.

He pushed a button in his lab. A revolving door shut him outside of his lab. He aimed the ice gun and pulled the trigger.

The sheet of ice evaporated as soon as it hit the walking column of fire. It looked at Dexter and snarled. It was time for it to go to work and smash the neighborhood until his master said it was enough. That might take a day before the order came down.

The master wanted this house flattened and then atomized. That would be a pleasure.

"All right, guys," said a boy in a dusty coat. "It has a machine in the center that's keeping it together. If we can get that out, then this thing goes down."

"Any suggestions how we do that?," asked Scott. "I don't think any of us can get inside that thing."

"I wish it was right here," said Jeannie.

A pod of gold metal with antennae sticking out of the top appeared on the sidewalk between Jeannie and Scott. Scott made a what do you know expression with his eyebrows.

Brimstone collapsed towards the pod, surging toward it in a wave of plasma fire. Dexter pointed his ice gun at the pod. He knew it would only slow things down. The fire demon would reform right on top of the kids.

They were as good as dead.

The pod broke down into component parts. The plasma paused as if unsure where to go. It started forward toward the kids again. The boy in the coat threw himself in front of them. He held up a wristband with three buttons on it. He pressed one and a shell surrounded the three of them in an invisible wall.

Dexter hosed the flames down with his ice gun. By the time he was done, the surrounding area looked like a Coca Cola Christmas card. All they needed were polar bears.

Mrs. Dexter and Beatrice Dexter dropped out of the sky. They landed in the middle of the mess. Dexter tried to hide the ice gun behind his back.

"Hello, dear," he said with a wave of his free hand.

"What's going on here?," said Mrs. Dexter, red hair waving in the wind at the end of the pony tail she had it tied in.

"You've created a snow bank, Dad?," said Beatrice. "This is awesome."

6

"Do I want to know what's going on here?," said Mrs. Dexter. She looked at the snow, the assembled children, and charring on the houses on the other side of the street.

"Just showing the kids some science, dear," said Mr. Dexter. "How did the trip go?"

"Beatrice and I scanned the area like you asked," said Mrs. Dexter. "It wasn't easy with all the ships looking things over, but we did see one anomaly. Tell your father the numbers, Bea."

The little girl spit out a long formula with ease. She smiled at the end of it.

"Are you sure?," asked Mr. Dexter. Even his thick glasses seemed to frown at the meaning of the numbers.

"Yes, Daddy," said Beatrice. "I counted the molecules carefully. Can I play in the snow now?"

"Go ahead," said Dexter. He waved her permission to play. The news was bad and good. He had to make a phone call to someone at LexCorp to tell them what he knew. Then he had to talk to Mandark about the destruction to the school he had tried to carry out.

Snowballs started flying as Beatrice laughed. The other kids joined in. Beatrice laughed as she became a ribbon of light zipping back and forth to dodge the snowballs being thrown at her.

The contest quickly became Beatrice versus Billy Marvel. The lightning clad boy easily matched her speed and was more accurate in the throwing. Snowballs covered Beatrice's head as she flung her return salvos haphazardly.

"Why did you make a bunch of ice and snow, Dex?," asked Mrs. Dexter.

"It's a little science lesson for the kids," said Mr. Dexter. He pulled out his phone. "Let me call the lab boys. The formula trace you and Bea discovered belongs to a Dominator weapon. Once that's confirmed by them, we can worry about Asgard."

"You think the Shiar will help with that?," said Mrs. Dexter. "You know Buttercup is out there trying to get in through the shield with Wonder Woman."

"We need magic to punch through that shield," said Dexter. "I'm a little short on that."

"Understood," said Mrs. Dexter. She picked up some snow and ice and shaped it into a ball. She nailed Beatrice with it from behind.

"Hello, Spivey," said Dexter. He walked away from the group so he could keep the background noise down while he talked. "My wife did an inspection in orbit. From what she saw, I think a Dominator blew up your station. The problem is you're going to have to prove that by scanning every fragment you recovered for the following chemical compound. You ready?"

Dexter gave him the overly long formula that Beatrice gave him.

"All right, Spivey," said Dexter. "You too. I have to talk to the mad scientist down the road. I'll see you around."

Dexter hung up and put his phone away.

"Now that that's done, I have to talk to Mandark about these latest attacks," said Dexter. "Watch the kids for me."

"I don't think so," said Mrs. Dexter. "I'll talk to him this time."

"I don't think ripping his arms off will do any good, Blossom," said Dexter. "And we don't want Beatrice doing that to people she doesn't like either."

"All right," said Mrs. Dexter. She grumbled in a lower voice, "It worked on Darkseid."

"Where are you going, Daddy?," Beatrice hovered in front of him.

"I have to go talk to your uncle," said Dexter. "I will be back in a few minutes."

"Do you want me to come along?," asked the flying girl. "I can rip his arms off for you."

Dexter turned to his wife and made a this is what we were talking about gesture with both hands.

"I think I can handle this without ripping anyone's arms off, Fromage," said Dexter. "You better enjoy the snow while it's still on the ground."

"Incoming," said Scott. He looked up at the sky.

"What is it now?," said Dexter. "I still have tests to grade."

"I was wondering if you had graded our science projects yet," said Jeanie.

"Not until you give your presentation," said Dexter.

"That's terrible," said Jeannie. "Can we at least get some extra credit?"

"No," said Dexter. He looked up in the afternoon sky and saw the small shape growing larger. All he needed now was another complication.

The shape turned into a humanoid female wearing a pink and purple ensemble with three blue dots on the right side of the collar. Bronze skin could be a tan, or the natural color. A short mohawk ran over the top of her head.

"I am looking for Dex-star," she said. Her voice was musical somehow. "I was told he has informed the investigators of the cause of the bombing to the Shiar mission."

"It was no problem," said Dexter. "My wife did most of the field work. I have to be somewhere if you don't mind."

"I am Duplicate Woman from Lallor," said the alien. "The ambassador would like to talk to you."

"Have you got his phone number?," said Dexter. "I'll call him on my way to my appointment."

"Don't try anything, lady," said Scott. "Mrs. Dexter is a Powerpuff, and you don't eff with the Powerpuffs."

"Yeah!," said Beatrice. "You don't eff with the Powerpuffs! What's a Powerpuff?"

"Young lady," said Mrs. Dexter. "You're close to being grounded. I think you kids should go in the house. Beatrice, help them get some snacks from the refrigerator."

"Powerpuffs?," said Duplicate Woman. "You ripped Gladiator's hair out."

"That was my sister," said Mrs. Dexter. "I think you should sit down and have a snack with us while my husband takes care of his personal business. Then we'll be glad to talk to your ambassador."

"What if I don't want to wait?," said Duplicate Woman.

"You don't want to go there," said Scott. "I know you're copying my telepathy. I can feel it. The only other person you can copy here is Mrs. Dexter. She can take you. You don't have the raw power to match her, and Billy and Beatrice will be on you as a hindrance before you even think about doing anything. Let's get some cookies and calm it down before you lose your hairdo."

Duplicate Woman reached up protectively with one hand.

"Seriously, you don't have a chance," said Scott. "Just let Mr. Dexter do his business. He's just taking care of a thing. We'll have all the cookies eaten by the time he comes back."

"All of them?," said Duplicate Woman. One eyebrow over a pale eye copied the quizzical lifting that humans did.

"We'll send Billy to get us some more if we run out," said Scott. "Let's do this."

7

Mr. Dexter walked down the silent streets. He frowned at the absence of people and animals. What had Mandark done?

He suspected some kind of low frequency sound. That might drive people from the neighborhood, after all the animals fled. Nothing living wanted to be vibrated to death by something they couldn't hear.

Dexter paused. Did he really want to confront his brother-in-law over his behavior? He frowned as he thought about Blossom flying over and having a talk with the pain in the neck. A splatter on the wall would be the end result of that.

The sisters' bodies coursed with Chemical X. As they had grown older, they had become more powerful. He charted the same course for Bea. His calculations showed that she was not half as strong as her mother was at her age, but she was getting there.

Eventually she would be putting down kaiju with one punch just like her mom.

Dexter arrived at the Astrononicon house. He knocked on the door. He knew that Mandark could see him. Cameras were the eyes of his security.

He checked his watch. He had other things to do with his time than talk to an in-law that hated him. It wasn't his fault what had happened between Mandark and Dee Dee. He had encouraged Mandark's crush, but that wasn't something to blow up a school.

And the fact that Dee Dee had finally pushed the wrong button wasn't his fault. He had warned Mandark about that when they started dating. They had both known that she had a tendency to do things like that.

The fact that she had done it to a reality sliding door, and shunted herself over to the next reality was better than blowing up the city, or killing herself with a laser beam. There was still a small hope that she would return from that other place.

It was a small hope, but still a hope.

Dexter knocked on the door again. Why wasn't Mandark trying to kill him while he stood on the porch? He had just as many weapons and robots as his visitor. Some of that could be trotted out to do awful things to the neighborhood.

The teacher pursed his lips. He couldn't wait around all day. Another attack on the school, or his house, might be underway.

Dexter pulled out his ice gun. He blasted the door. He waited for the wood to freeze over. He pulled out his wrench. He swung the metal bar against the door. It shattered into fragments. He stepped inside the house.

That should have brought the security bots, or maybe the butler. He didn't like that the house seemed empty.

Had Mandark abandoned his lab? That seemed like a line he wouldn't cross. After Dee Dee had wrecked it on their first date, he had rebuilt it. He had held on to it through the battle over the will with his sister. He had kept it the last few years Dee Dee was missing.

Giving it up seemed something Mandark would never do.

Dexter walked through the house. He remembered where the secret door to the lab was. He wanted to make sure Mandark wasn't upstairs. He didn't want to have a mad scientist at his back while he was snooping.

The house was dark and deserted. Ten minutes of searching proved that. It was time to head downstairs and see if the nut was at home in his shop.

Dexter didn't like anything about this. It reminded him too much of monster movies he used to watch.

Had Mandark created a monster in his lab? Did he want to know that bad? He thought about Blossom and Beatrice. He had to make sure things didn't touch them now that he had given up his rivalry with his crazy in-law.

The fact that Brimstone had been recreated and let loose on their house was enough to come over and say something. Blossom ripping his arms off would be justified but frowned upon now that she had retired.

Dexter made his way to the secret closet in the wall of Mandark's room. He triggered the lock to appear. Then he rewired the instrument. He pushed the go button. The door sprang open to let him have access to the lab.

He entered the rooms. Everything was dark and shut down. That wasn't like Mandark at all. Even after Dee Dee leaving, he had maintained some kind of presence in the lab in case she came back.

Even the door was shut down. How was she supposed to get back if the way was closed to her?

What was going on?

He had competed with Mandark a lot since they were kids. He couldn't remember a time when the other was this taken down. Not even during the time travel shenanigans that had wrecked the world.

He decided that Mandark's computer would know what was going on. Luckily he had a password to get in and have it spill its electronic guts. Otherwise, he would have to do things the hard way.

Dexter worked his way to where the central computer rested in the gigantic facility. He had never learned how Mandark had built such a lab off the back of his house where anybody could see it.

He had buried his lab underground and installed secret doors throughout his own house to get back and forth.

Dexter hoped the facility still had power as he booted the central computer up. He was rewarded with a welcome screen and password entry. He put in his stolen password and waited.

"Hello, Dexter," said the Computer. "Where is the Master?"

"I don't know," said Dexter. "I was hoping you could tell me what is going on."

"I have been shut down for some years from the looks of things," said the Computer. "Activating scanners and powering up the lab."

The lights came on one at a time as the Computer scanned an area and moved on. The engines used for power wound up, spreading a hum through the place. A surge of lightning filled the air.

"The Master is not present," said the Computer. "Neither is the Mistress."

"Is there anything missing from the stores?," asked Dexter. "There have been a series of Mandark-like attacks which is why I'm here."

"The Master stepped through the Cosmic Door before I was shut down," said the Computer. "Everything was powered down according to his wishes."

Dexter frowned. Mandark had stepped through the Cosmic Door. That meant being lost across the multiple timelines that encircled their prime Earth. He must have thought he could find Dee Dee after all.

Why had he thought that? What had changed? Why hadn't he told Dexter? The genius could have helped.

Dee Dee was his sister.

"Did Mandark leave a note to explain what he was doing?," Dexter asked.

"He said he had found a way to track the Mistress, and he would return when he had her," said the Computer. "The last project he filed was this."

A diagram of a set of goggles and miniature analyzing equipment lit the Computer's screen.

"He's using some kind of time scanner," said Dexter. "I should have thought of that."

"You should have," said a familiar voice from behind him.

Dexter turned slowly to face Mandark's sister, Olga. While Mandark had been a skinny beanpole, Olga had always been a short plug of a human being. Her daughter, Elga, stood beside her. They both wore the same expression on their round faces.

"Where's your husband?," said Dexter.

"Johnny couldn't make it," said Olga. She pointed a large cannon at Dexter. "I didn't want him getting in my way while I did what I had to do."

"Yeah," said Elga. She copied her mom's move with a smaller cannon of her own.

Dexter raised his hands. He was worried that Elga would shoot him by accident, but not her mother. Olga would shoot him on purpose.

"What's this all about, Olga?" Dexter looked around for something he could use against the human fire hydrants.

"I want you to bring my brother back," said Olga. "I know you can do it. You were almost as smart as he is."

"I don't see how I can do it," said Dexter. "He stepped into a multitude of multiverses built off of our own. There's no guarantee that I can find him, or find the right him to bring back."

"Then I don't see the need to keep you around," said Olga. "Let's go down to the Cosmic Door and do what we got to do."

She gestured with the cannon for him to precede her and her daughter through the lab.

Dexter shrugged and started walking. He hoped Blossom and Beatrice wouldn't miss him too much. He didn't want them ripping Olga apart.

That would lead to things running out of control.

Once Blossom put down Olga and Elga, what was to stop her from putting down anyone else that got in her way? He could see unhelpful store employees being turned into smears on the walls of their stores.

That would only be the beginning.

He had to stop that train of circumstances right now. He didn't want his wife to be a casual murderer of the mundane people around her.

Dexter paused in front of the Cosmic Door. He turned around to face his captors. The hum of the multiverse drifted to his ear.

"So you want me to go in there without equipment to find your brother?," said Dexter. "You know that's impossible, right?"

"I don't care," said Olga. "I know that you can do it."

Dexter's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out without thinking about it.

"Hello, Spivey," he said. "I was totally right? Totally Dominators. Do the Shiar know? I have an Imperial Guardman waiting for me at my house. She came with the security detail? Glad it wasn't the Gladiator. You know Buttercup pulled his mohawk right off his head. He hasn't liked us since.

"I'll see you around, Spivey," Dexter said. He dropped the phone to the ground. He bent to pick it up, then did a roll to get out from under the Bravos' guns. Beams blew things up as he ran for cover.

8

Blossom Dexter served up a dish full of different cookies and glasses of milk. She smiled as Duplicate Woman looked at the plate of different shaped confections and the glass of white liquid in front of her.

"If you are copying my powers, it won't kill you," Blossom said. She smiled at the Imperial Guardswoman. Then she frowned as she shifted her hair to expose an ear. "It sounds like there's trouble down the way. I'll be right back."

Blossom vanished in a pink trail of light in the air.

"I wish there were more cookies for us to eat," said Jeanie. A pile of assorted cookies fell on top of the serving plate. Jeanie smiled at the granting of her wish.

"How did you do that?," asked Duplicate Woman. She took a handful of cookies and tasted them one after the other.

"I don't know," said Jeanie. "Weird things are going on today."

"It started with the science fair," said Billy. He tossed some chocolate chip cookies into his mouth.

"That really doesn't give us a cause for the cookies," said Duplicate Woman.

"I think it's magic," said Scott. He dunked his cookies in his glass of milk. "I think that's why you can't copy it."

"What do you know about magic, Scott?," said Beatrice. She gobbled handfuls of cookies while working on her glass of milk.

"I know a little," said Scott. He smiled as he sipped his milk. "My mom knows a lot more than I do."

"Do you know why Mrs. Dexter left, Scott?," asked Festus Mann. He didn't eat any of the cookies, or drink any of the milk in the glass in front of him.

"She heard something from Mandark's house," said Scott. "I got the impression it was some kind of energy weapon."

"We should go over there and help out," said Festus.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," said Scott. "Mrs. Dexter wanted us to stay here out of trouble."

"She's not my mom," said Festus. "I can do whatever I want."

Everyone at the table looked at him like he had grown another head and they were fighting for supremacy.

"Don't mess with my mom," said Beatrice. "I will clout you."

"I'm not scared of you, short stuff," said Festus.

Duplicate Woman got between the two before clouting could commence. She held Beatrice back with one arm, while keeping Festus in his chair with the other hand to his face.

"Do you guys mind?," asked Billy. He scarfed down a couple more cookies. "I think we need to call our parents and figure out how we can explain all this without any more trouble."

"Good point," said Duplicate Woman. She plopped Beatrice down in a chair. "Don't move, human offspring."

"I can't explain any of this," said Jeanie. "Say, you don't think my mom knows what's going on with me, do you?"

"Who knows?," said Festus. "Maybe if it ran in the family?"

"That's a good point," said Billy. "We've all seemed to inherited our abilities."

"Dan Tiger is on," said Beatrice. She grabbed the plate of cookies and flew into the living room.

"How old is she?," asked Festus.

"I'm five," called Beatrice from the other room. "Stupid Oklahoma."

Billy flew into the living room. "What about Oklahoma?"

"Some big fight is going on in Oklahoma," said Beatrice. "It's not important."

"It is important, Beatrice." Billy changed the channel back with the remote. "It's open war there. I have to go."

"But Dan Tiger," whined Beatrice.

"You can't go out there, Billy," said Scott. "You'll get hurt fighting against Asgardians."

"I can handle it," said Billy.

"There's an actual battle somewhere that needs help?," said Duplicate Woman. "Where?"

"You can't go," said Festus. "You have to stay here and wait on Mr. Dexter."

"I wish you could go with us to Asgard," said Jeanie.

The kitchen faded away. A city of weird architecture stretched out around them. Colorful figures were fighting soldiers in weird armor. Three giants of flames swung burning swords at any of the invaders that came close to them.

Even more colorful figures were outside the city smashing against a barrier that wouldn't let them in.

"What did you do, Jeanie?," asked Billy.

"That's Aunt Buttercup," said Beatrice. She pointed at a green-clad woman with short black hair and green eyes. "She looks mad."

"She looks pissed," said Festus.

"Incoming," warned Scott. "We need a defensible position."

Asgardians with swords, axes, and maces rushed the kids and their alien guardian. Killing them would be just as good as killing any of the costumed adults flowing around them on the battlefield.

Duplicate Woman met the charge. She punched the first warrior as he drew back his axe to chop Jeanie down. The world froze for a second. Then the warrior flew headfirst into a building with the sound of a cannon firing.

Billy leaped at the next man, punching with the strength of Hercules. His target didn't fly away from his blow but the warrior hit the ground. His sword fell into the hands of the world's mightiest ten-year-old.

More of the war party converged on the kids as Duplicate Woman and Billy held off the first wave of attackers. They ran into a beam of red light with a roaring cat's head warning them off. Then a streak of light slammed into them with tiny fists and the battle cry of "I'm missing Dan Tiger!"

"She must really love Dan Tiger," said Scott. He concentrated on one of the warriors. A wall fell down on the man.

"Tell me about it," said Festus. He put away the sword spotlight. He pulled out a gun oozing fog in the air. "Which way do you want to go with this?"

"Let's try over there by that wall," said Scott. He pointed to the remains of a wall that used to be a building. "Stay close, Jeanie."

"I wish we had some help," said Jeanie as they ran for the stacked blocks of stone.

A yellow streak bounced off a building and fell into the war party. It bounced around, using the Asgardians as backstops until one of them swatted it away. He followed it as Beatrice slammed into him while he was still on the backswing.

"You need to get this wish thing under control," Scott said. He pointed at another warrior. The ground opened up and dropped him in a lake under the city.

"It's not really exact, is it?," said Jeanie. "Still, that was some help."

Festus blasted white bolts around the battlefield. Ice wrapped his targets in cubes. The warriors struggled against the imprisonment but the delay was enough for Duplicate Woman, Billy, and Beatrice to do what they did best.

The yellow streak returned with a rebound off a column with a statue on it. It missed a body flying through the column and dropping the statue to the ground. It landed inside the circle created by the flying warriors.

"How's it going?," said the yellow streak. It became a girl in a yellow and blue costume and mask. Yellow orbs rotated around her. "You guys from Earth?"

"Most of us," said Scott. "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem," said the girl. "I'm Powerball. I came over with my dad and a bunch of others but we got separated."

"Who's your dad?," asked Festus.

"Speedball," said the girl with a smile. "He's the best hero ever."

"Really?," said Billy, pausing to look at the group. "Speedball's the best hero ever? I don't think so."

"That's right," said Beatrice. "My mom is the best hero ever."

"I'm not going to argue with you over it," said Powerball. "I'm looking for my dad. Have you seen him?"

"No," said Duplicate Woman. "We will help you look for him."

"There's a couple of groups coming this way," said Scott. "We can go around them if we're careful."

"We should ambush them," said Duplicate Woman. "We should be able to take them one at a time with some careful planning."

"Okay," said Scott. "The more of them we take out, the less the others have to deal with to get rid of Asgard. I can see that."

"Billy, I want you to fly over and see if you can spot the lead elements of the group Scott thinks is out there," said Duplicate Woman. "Once we know where they are, we can set up our ambush."

"They're about three buildings over, Billy," said Scott. He pointed the direction of travel.

"Got it," said Billy. He took to the air and soon vanished.

"Why did Billy Marvel get to go, and not me?," asked Beatrice. "I can be a scout."

"I don't need you to be a scout, I need you to be my ambusher," said Duplicate Woman.

She pointed at one of the buildings that hadn't taken a direct hit from the engaged powers.

"I want you to wait on the roof for the signal," said the guardswoman.

"Right," said Beatrice. She exploded away in a trail of light.

"Festus, Scott, and Jeannie, you three should go to that building over there." Duplicate Woman pointed to a building that should be out of the line of fire. "I want you to keep down and keep watch."

"What do I do?," asked Powerball. "I want to help out too."

"You're the distraction," said Duplicate Woman. "Let's get to our places."

The group separated to get to their places. Duplicate Woman carried Powerball with her as she found a perch to one side of the marching line. She examined the line of warriors. They looked like they had already been hit by somebody forcing them in the direction they were going.

Duplicate Woman copied Scott's telepathy. She linked the kids with her so they could hear her without attracting attention to their positions.

"I'm getting ready to launch Powerball," she sent to them. "Billy and Beatrice start picking off the guys at the end of the line. Festus and Scott, get ready to snipe anyone who gets out of the area. Jeannie, keep an eye out for more of them while we are working."

The kids answered in the affirmative. They, except for Scott, should be afraid of having someone issuing orders in their head. Apparently it was something that got filed away until everything was over.

"Powerball is a go," said Duplicate Woman. She hurled the girl into the crowd with all of her strength.

The costumed girl became a yellow streak bouncing from Asgardian to Asgardian, It was the perfect distraction from two powerhouses attacking the group from behind in quick sudden strikes. Warriors flew into buildings from the flying battering rams.

Duplicate Woman streaked in. The group was confused and looking in every direction as Powerball used the terrain to bounce into their ranks. The guardswoman literally rearranged faces with her lightning strikes.

She could see why Gladiator lost if Mrs. Dexter's sister was as strong as she was. And that borrowed strength was enough to crush a godling like Galactus crushed planets.

"Got incoming," warned Scott. "We're going to try to slow them down."

Duplicate Woman looked at the flying animals and their riders aiming for her little group. She frowned. They had to retreat to do another ambush.

She grabbed Powerball out of air.

"We're going to need cover, and then retreat." Duplicate Woman headed into the air. She needed to get the children out of there.

A steady stream of rockets chased across the sky. They chased after the lead rider, blowing up on contact. Once the rider fell out of the way, the stream diverted to the next target.

"We got them, ma'am," said Billy. He waved at Beatrice, and the two flickered over to pick up their friends.

We're not going to win against overwhelming numbers but we sure will leave our mark before we go down.

9

Blossom Utonium Dexter blinked and she crashed through the old Astronomicon house. She punched through the walls to get to the lab where Mandark tried to work after marrying Dexter's sister, Dee Dee.

"Hello, Blossom," said the Computer that ran the lab for Mandark. "The door was open."

"Hello, Computer," said Blossom. She spotted her sister-in-law and her niece with blasters. They were turning around to confront her. "Where's Dexter?"

"I'm over here, honey," said Dexter from the cover of pipes and instrumentation. "How are the kids?"

"Duplicate Woman is watching them for me," said Blossom. "Who wants to explain what's going on?"

"Dexter is going to find my brother for me," said Olga Bravo. "That's why I'm here."

"I already told you, crazy woman," began Dexter. "It's impossible."

"Why is it impossible?," asked Blossom. She had done a lot of impossible things over the years. Her husband had used time travel to get pizza before a dinner party one night. They could do a lot of things between the two of them.

"The door didn't record where he went," said Dexter. "There's no way to find out from the equipment which one of a thousand million dimensions he went to from here. It would be like looking for a needle in a field of needles."

"You just don't want to help," said Olga. "You were always mad that Mandark married Dee Dee."

"You know that's not true," said Dexter. "I was more than happy to let them get together. I was kind of surprised since Dee Dee acted oblivious to your brother's crush. Getting them together was how I wrecked your brother's lab the first time."

"Excuse me," said Blossom.

"I was ten," said Dexter. "And he was gloating way too much."

Blossom rolled her eyes.

"Can you find Mandark?," asked Blossom.

"If I had a thousand years and another brain," said Dexter. He winced at the frowns the three females gave him. "There might be a way if the Computer logged what happened."

"All operations are logged for further review, Dexter," said the Computer. "The Dimensional Door experiment is the last in my files."

"Put it up on your screen," said Dexter. "Let's see what happened."

The Computer shifted on the end of a tentacle arm attached to a mounting on the wall above the keyboard/desk combo that Mandark liked to use. The screen lit with a time stamp and a picture of the Door that remained humming to Dexter's left.

Mandark held a wrench in his hand. He was tightening some bolts on the side of the door when Dee Dee appeared in the picture. She wore her trademark blond pig tails and a pink sweat suit. She and Mandark engaged in some repartee as he pressed a button on a remote control in his hand. She did a pirouette in front of the door and then fell inside the frame with a look of shock on her face. Mandark jumped in after her. The door stopped working.

"That's too bad," said Dexter. "He took the control with him."

"So what?," said Olga. Her daughter stood behind her, blaster pointed at the ground.

"There's no way to open the door until I can build a remote, and I need the schematics to do that," said Dexter. "If I had the remote, maybe I could open the door to the last place the door opened to look around. Without it, I got nothing."

"Can you build a remote?," asked Blossom. She doubted that Olga would keep her cool at the news if she wasn't standing there.

The blasters and burn marks showed that some kind of fight had been going on before she had punched a hole through the house.

"Maybe if I had the plans Mandark used," said Dexter. "Computer, do you have the plans for the door remote we are talking about?"

"Yes, Dexter," said the Computer. The frozen image of Mandark jumping to his doom was replaced by a blueprint of a remote control type device. Specifications were almost the same as one of Dexter's own remotes at home.

He studied the drawing for several moments. He nodded to himself. He had a good chance of opening the correct door to the correct universe to find Mandark.

Searching that universe for one man and woman would be the hard part in his opinion. He doubted even his wife could do that in a hurry.

"Let me see what parts are available," said Dexter. "Then we'll see what I can do about all this."

He vanished into the depths of the lab, looking for the work bays that Mandark used to store his equipment.

Dexter returned a few minutes later with a remote in hand. He snapped in a battery and closed it up as he walked back to the group.

"Let's see what this does," he said. He pointed the remote at the door and pressed the recall button.

A glow emanated from the portal. A sound like a thousand people sighing filled the room. A hazy picture of a room formed. It resembled Mandark's lab at first glance.

An explosion happened on the other side of the door. Blossom held up her hand to prevent Dexter from cutting the connection. A man in a mask and coat fell through the door. A woman in pink tights and a pink cat mask landed lightly beside him.

"Dexter?," said the pink cat lady.

"Dee Dee?," said Dexter. "What are you doing?"

"Shut the door," said the man in the cloth mask. "They're right behind us."

A bright streak knocked the remote out of Dexter's hands. It caught the device on the fly and left parts on the floor as it retreated to the door.

Others crossed the threshold. They regarded the extended family with smirks of arrogance.

"It's over," said a man with graying brown hair in a green suit with a 4 on the front. "As soon as we're done with you people, we're going to look at our new conquest."

Blossom took in the newcomers with a glance as her eyebrows furrowed.

The guy with the four seemed to be the leader. The speedster had a red suit and lightning like the Flashes. A woman trying to be invisible stood behind the four guy. They had a big green guy who obviously was supposed to be the muscle. A Green Lantern floated above the group. They had an archer in blue at one end of the group. The other end was held by a guy in blue and green.

"Go home," said Blossom. "We'll shut the door and that will be the end of it for both sides."

"I would love to see you make us," said the four guy. "Gentlemen, I think we need subjects to ask about our new world."

"Eeeeew," said Dee Dee with a smile. "You've done it now, mister."

"Done what?," asked the leader of the group. "We're the Fantastic Force. You people don't have a chance against us."

"You don't eff with the Powerpuffs, buddy," said Dee Dee.

"The Powerpuffs?," said the Four Guy.

"The Powerpuffs," said Blossom. Suddenly she was standing directly in front of them. "Go home."

"Kill them all," said the Four Guy.

Blossom chopped the speedster in the face before he could get off the block. The last things he saw before he fell out of the fight was the edge of Blossom's hand, then a spinning view of the room before the high speed impact with a wall.

The archer pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back. A white blast sent him skidding away from the main group in a block of ice.

The Green Lantern threw up a shield to block energy blasts from the Bravos. He laughed at them as he readied a cannon to fire back.

The blue green guy seemed undecided on who to tackle. He went after Dee Dee. She danced around his swings with a grin.

"Feel the fury of the Pink Panthress!," she called with a grin on her face.

The big guy bounded for Blossom. That was the wrong move on his part. She knocked him out with the backswing from knocking out his friend. All he saw was a pink flash.

Mandark pulled twin energy weapons from under his coat. He blasted away at the the spokesman with them.

The guy shifted shape to avoid the blasts. He stretched out a long arm to swipe at the masked gunman. He missed as Astonomicon ducked out of the way.

A force field surrounded Blossom. She supposed it was to buy time while Four Guy and Green Lantern rip off tried to stop the rest of her extended family. She pulled the force field with her as she rocketed into the GL. He turned at the last second, bringing up a green wall to protect himself. He smashed into the ceiling and upward. He hit the ground outside and lay still. Only his ring kept him from being more than knocked out.

Blossom reversed course. She supposed the force field was to keep her from moving at all. It had been a long time since anyone could keep her down with a bubble.

She hit the invisible woman with the bubble and slammed her into a wall. The bubble popped on impact. She made sure the woman was out with a punch to the face.

Dee Dee's opponent suffered a flash freeze as she danced around his swings and punches. Dexter blew the fog away from the end of his ice gun.

The Four Guy looked around and noticed he was the only one still moving. A hand grabbed his neck before he could do anything about it. Then his super-elastic body was tied into a knot.

"I think we're done here," said Blossom. "We need another remote, Dexter."

"I've got one," said Mandark. He put away his guns to pull a small device from his utility vest.

Blossom threw the Fantastic Force back into their own world, after taking a second to grab their Green Lantern. She supposed some careful warming would have to be done for the two Dexter froze. She was glad it wasn't up to her how to do it.

"Shut the door, Mandark," said Blossom. "Dexter and I have an appointment to keep."

10

Buttercup Utonium looked around at the small crowd assembled to break into Asgard. Her green suit glittered from her suppressed energy. Where were her sisters?

She spotted Bubbles in a light blue sweater and jeans. Bullet the Powerpuff Squirrel rode on her shoulder. She was talking to a guy in blue with balls of energy floating around him, a kid in yellow with the same energy effect, and a girl with a squirrel tail coming out her backside. The squirrel girl had two squirrels on either shoulder as they talked about what was going to happen.

"Thank you for coming, Uncle Alan," said Kiku Thunder. "Thunderbolt and I need all the help we can get from the looks of things."

"It's no problem, Kiku," said Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern to operate on Earth. At a hundred and then some years old, he was just as vital as when he first carved a ring out of the green lantern he had found. "We'll get your girl back."

Doctor Occult adjusted his hat as he looked at his colleagues. Rose, his wife, nodded. Their son, Richard, Junior, frowned at the barrier. Sargon, and his daughter Julia, summoned the powers of their rubies of life. Ibis the Invincible raised his Ibis stick. His son, Thoth, raised his Ibis ring.

"Let's open the door for our allies," said Doctor Occult. He lifted the symbol of the Seven in his right hand. He started the spell to break the barrier, the other magicians following his lead.

"Help them, Thunderbolt," ordered Kiku.

"Your wish is my command," said the pink Djinn.

The combined will cracked the shield, but it wasn't giving way that much. Then a green beam entered the fray. That almost tipped the scales. Two hands clutched Alan Scott's shoulders. He looked around to see Bubbles and Buttercup on either side of him. Bullet dropped down on his shoulder. A hole formed in the barrier.

"Let's go," said Buttercup. She blasted through the hole.

A squirrel the size of a man led an army of squirrels into Asgard as Bullet and Bubbles joined the fray.

Murter, a fire giant, wondered at what was going on at the edge of Asgard. He gestured at the disturbance to his two brothers. They nodded they saw what he saw. They strode forward to put down this invasion of furry animals.

Then one of the squirrels punched a hole through his chest on a streak of yellow light. He fell over in a trail of flame as he tried to heal the wound with his innate power.

His brothers looked at the hovering squirrel in amazement.

Ole Sorrenson led his squad against a woman in a dress with a ruby pinned to her bodice. Once they were done with this one, they would move against the others. The peace of Asgard had to be maintained. He never saw the giant squirrel that slung him into a wall with a swipe of its claws.

The rest of the squad suddenly found themselves dealing with a rain of bricks as the street under them came to life. The explosion of stone sent them scurrying for cover. Then the animals arrived.

Green anvils dropped out of the sky to scatter more of the army on the ground.

Speedball and Powerball bounced into the fray. They were distractions for the rest of the invasion. They just didn't have the power to handle an Asgardian.

One got lucky and struck Powerball with a mace. She flew over the rooftops and vanished out of sight.

Speedball used a wall as a backstop and pounded that Asgardian until he fell with a set of bouncebacks that just got stronger every time he hit.

Sigurd the Younger mounted her winged horse. Other Valkyries were doing the same. She loosened her sword as she kneed her horse to take flight.

A few minutes later, Sigurd ran into a hail of rockets that chased after her. She hit the roof of a building and bounced down to the street. Her horse landed beside her with a flap of its wings.

Kiku shook her head. She needed to find her daughter. Uncle Alan and the others were messing the place up, but no one had seen Jeannie, and Speedball had lost Powerball on top of things.

"Say, you Thunderbolt," she watched as a flock of squirrels took down an armored soldier. "Take me to Jeannie."

"No problem, Boss," said the pink human lightning bolt. He raised a hand and they were somewhere else.

Kiku blinked at the group of middle schoolers surrounding a too bronze woman with a small mohawk. All of them looked ready to shoot her with energy beams.

"Mom?," said Jeannie. Then louder. "Mom!"

"Jeannie," said Kiku. She smiled at the sight of her smiling daughter.

Malesith moved his men to the roof of a still standing building. He drew an arrow from his quiver. He heard the sound of his men doing the same. He had a choice of targets. One was a group of human children and two human women. He didn't know what they were doing in Asgard, but no one was allowed in Asgard without the king's permission. They had to die.

And dark elves were the best archers in the nine worlds to do that.

They loosed their arrows at the group. Once they were sure the targets were dead, they would move to take care of a human with a wand that seemed to have taken over a crossroad and was putting Asgardians down with the wand.

The arrows were intercepted in midflight.

Malesith frowned. The woman with the fringe of hair on her skull had knocked all of their arrows out of the air with her hands. He had barely seen the hands move as she flew into action.

He failed to notice one of the kids pulling a giant cannon from under his coat. Then his perch exploded upwards from the impact of a blue ray taking everything apart and launching it into the inside of the shield. He hit the inner skin of dome with stones crashing around him. Then he fell back to the street.

He tried to catch his breath from the twin impacts. Then the part of the mass of carved rock that had hit the dome after him came down on top of him.

"Give us a safe space, Thunderbolt," said Kiku. "I think we need a chance to talk."

The surrounding debris and buildings became a circular wall tall enough to block anything from a giant coming through. The group of kids made a collective whoa sound to make Keanu Reeves proud.

"All right," said Kiku. "Who wants to explain what's going on?"

Everyone of the kids looked at the responsible adult, Duplicate Woman. She grimaced at that.

"Jeannie brought us here," said Duplicate Woman. "We picked up Powerball while here, and we're looking for an exit."

"You snitch," said Jeannie. "You totally told on me."

"Young lady," said Kiku.

"You're in trouble now," said Beatrice.

"Younger lady, do you mind?," said Kiku.

"It was an accident, Mrs. Thunder," said Billy Marvel. "She didn't mean to wish us here. It just happened. We've been looking after her."

The other two boys nodded in agreement.

"Let's get you kids out of here," said Kiku. "I don't think your parents would like you wandering around in a combat zone."

"Mine won't," said Beatrice. She kicked a rock. "They don't like me having fun at all."

A squirrel dropped on the top of the wall. He chittered at the group from his spot. He pointed a claw back behind him.

"Thanks, Bobby," said Beatrice.

The squirrel hopped out of sight.

"You talk to squirrels?," said Festus. He had a disbelieving look on his face.

"He's one of Bullet's kids," said Beatrice. "He said some more people were coming through to help out. They plan to move Asgard away from here as soon as they break the king. We should go."

"Who's Bullet?," asked Scott. He saw a picture of a flying squirrel at the question.

"He's the Powerpuff squirrel," said Beatrice. "My mom and aunts gave him superpowers when they were kids. He's ancient for a squirrel and all of his kids have some superpowers now."

A giant squirrel landed on the wall. The kids instantly took up defensive stances as it chittered down at them like a stream rolling down a cliff. Then it was gone with a flick of its tail.

"Was that Bullet?," asked Festus. He pointed the homing gun up in the air in relief after their visitor had vanished.

"No," said Beatrice. "That was the King of the Squirrels. He wants us to get out of here. He used a lot of bad language too."

"Get us out of here, Thunderbolt," said Kiku.

The group vanished from inside the wall.

Audhild looked up from the casting she was leading. The bubble around Asgard had failed somehow. The city was being overrun by rodents and flying death. She could see the streaks of light blasting through buildings. A few of the frost giants were thrown to the ground on impact.

It was her coven's responsibility to strengthen the bubble again while Haki dealt with the invaders. She chanted the words, readied to throw the ingredients in the cauldron, concentrated on the end of the spell.

"I think it's time for you to stop," said a man appearing out of the astral plane. He raised a disc with alternating black and red triangles on its surface. "Your invasion is ending. There's no point in trying to shore up your defenses. That will just get you hurt now that we are here with you."

"What do you know of things, man?," asked Audhild. "As soon as we close the land, you and your friends will be hunted down and exterminated."

"Look around," the man said. He waved an arm at a frost giant flying through the air. "We won't be locked in here with you to be hunted at your leisure. You will be locked in here with us. I don't think you will like what happens to you once all the bigger threats are done."

Audhild looked at her colleagues. She had to make a decision. Should she betray her king?

A troll head flew by. Then its body followed. Blood splattered the ground as it passed.

"Do you really want to be here when the Powerpuffs and their monster squirrels show up to deal with you?," said the acolyte of the Seven. "I think you should hide out somewhere and let other people straighten things out."

"We will do as you ask," said Audhild. She waved at her sister practitioners. They nodded and chanted one by one.

The women vanished as they reached the end of their chant until only Audhild and the magician remained.

"We will meet again, man," said Audhild.

"Doctor Occult is the name." He straightened his hat as he put away the sign of the Seven. "I'll be waiting for you to try again."

Audhild retreated to the hills of Jotunheim in a flash of mist.

The shield lifted over the city and its wreckage. The squirrels retreated, with the king of the squirrels and Bullet exchanging pleasantries.

One figure in black cape and hat watched things from a shadow. He turned his shaded face and vanished in the darkness. He had lent his strength when needed but there was no need for a phantom stranger now.


End file.
